Our program will feature two critical feminist campaigns going on currently and give listeners details on how they can participate!

Segment 1

Plans for how and where to show up when the suit challenging the longstanding approval of the abortifacient Mifepristone by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is decided by a Texas Court presided over by a right-wing Trump appointee--Judge Kacsmaryk. The decision may come down any day and we are preparing for it--Mifepristone, in conjuction with Misoprostol (together making up what is known as 'the abortion pill') is currently the method used by over 50% of women seeking abortion and has become even more essential with the overturn of Roe v Wade and 13 states having passed abortion bans.

GUEST:

Sunsara Taylor

Sunsara Taylor is a long time organizer for abortion rights and a founder of RiseUp4AbortionRights, which has been turning out tens of thousands accros the country, since it became known that the Dobbs decison--through which Roe v Wade, the federal law legalizing abortion in the US (1973), was overturned last June--was going to be decided by the Supreme Court. Sunsara advocates for a total revolution in which women and all people will be free and their needs will be met through a socialist society--Listeners will recognize her as the host of the WBAI program "We Only Want the World" and she also co-hosts the RNL show on youtube 

In addition to marches and rallies planned by RiseUp4AbortionRights, we will discuss recent attacks on the group over their continuing to feature the word "women" and how the denial of reproductive rights is part of the long history of attacks on the rights of women.

Segment 2

The campaign to end inhumane 24 hour workshifts for home care workers, which are both sexist and racist and endanger women workers, as well as their patients--is currently focusing on the NYC City Council and particularly its Speaker, Adrienne Adams, to allow Bill 175 to come to the floor of the City Council for a vote--NYC is the only city, and NY the only state, to still allow 24 hour work shifts--the women who do these shifts--and are paid by Medicaid--are mostly Latina, Asian and Black home care workers--and are being robbed of up to 11 hours of pay for each 24 hour shift, because of not being paid for "sleep periods", which, because of the nature of the work of caring for elderly patients is NOT uninterrupted sleep--and are also not paid for periods where they must eat--and so are being ROBBED of 11 hours of pay every night by health insurance companies and home care agencies. This is being justified by their healthcare workers union, District 1199--of which they are members and many are suffering grave health damage as a result of these long shifts with little sleep!

Ending the 24-hour shift would help to end the rampant wage theft in the home care industry, amounting to billions of dollars in the last few years.

History: The underpayment of Female Home Care workders reperesents two strands of exploitation: that of women who perform "women's work"/care work--traditionally invisible as labor because women hold up society by doing it unpaid in their homes; this has carried over into the undervaluing care work when it is done professionally for pay. The other is the exploitation of Black labor: a part of US history of enslavement of African people, when Black enslaved women--among other free labor they were forced to do--cared for the children of white families. Domestic workers (largely Latina, Asian and Black women) were left out of the New Deal and Fair Labor Standards Act in a craven cave-in to Southern Dixiecrats during the FDR Administration--and procuring labor rights for domestic workers has been an uphill battle ever since--with some victories and still a long way to go.

GUEST:

Vicki Niu

Vicki Niu is an organizer with the Ain't I A Woman Campaign and a member of Youth Against Sweatshops, where she fight alongside home attendants and workers of all trades to end the racist and sexist violence of the 24-hour workday.

The show will feature topical music.